Tag Archives: Prayer

Counting our recent move to Gilbert, Arizona, Carol and I have moved thirty-five times during our twenty-three years of marriage. More than a few people have asked us, “Why have you moved so much?”

My standard answer used to be a shrug of my shoulders, but a recent thought has opened my eyes to a possible new revelation: Carol and I are like wine in God’s wine cellar. He pours us from bottle to bottle to bottle to remove our impurities, which settle into the bottom of the bottles after a period of rest.

“Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs (impurities); he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel… (Jeremiah 48:11 ESV)

Hopefully, we are purer wine for His use than when we first began our journey together twenty-three years ago.

My prayer today:

Lord God, create in us clean hearts and renew steadfast spirits within us. Restore to us the joy of our salvations and uphold us with Your generous Spirit. Then we will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. (Based on Psalm 51:10, 12-13)

Since 1973, there have been over 61 million abortions in the US. In the world, there have been more than 1.5 billion abortions since 1980. (If you want to see a constantly updated abortion counter board, click here.)

Watching the numbers change at the abortion counter board are mind-boggling. They just keep moving forward. Each tick represents another dead baby. And another. And another. And so forth.

But let’s be honest, it’s easy to be discouraged about abortion, especially when we read about New York’s new up-to-the-time-of-birth abortion guidelines, the Virginia governor’s statement about babies surviving abortions and the media’s words.

Why even pray? Why even fast? It seems like such a waste of time. Might as well just not care at all anymore, right?

But what does discouragement really mean?

Being discouraged actually means we’re looking at our problems and seeing them as bigger and more powerful than our God and His leadership ways. But of course, none of us would ever admit this, right?

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Revelation 8:3-5)

Maybe my individual prayers are not making a big difference at the local Planned Parenthood Clinic, but that’s not necessarily my intention. I’m praying to the Creator to let Him know I agree with Him and His leadership ways against abortion and that I know my prayers will soon cause noises, thunderings, lightnings and earthquakes on earth.

That’s enough to keep me in the battle against abortion and other major problems.

My prayer today:

Lord, I pray that You would give each believer the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You, that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened about prayer and that we would know the exceeding greatness of Your power backing our prayers. (Based on Ephesians 1:17-19)

How would you like to come back from a short honeymoon and discover another couple has moved into your apartment while you were gone?

Tony and Janelle already lived with us in our apartment because of health issues, but Rick and Marta then showed up, needing a place to stay for a time. We were all friends, but this was not exactly a love boat situation for us.

Carol and I were learning how to live with each other while also learning how to live with other people at the same time. And guess what? Proximity adds pressure, pressure becomes stress, and if the conditions are right, stress erupts.

A few days after our return, Carol arrived home from work to see me in a bad mood.

“Larry, what is your problem?” she said with concern on her face.

“I want to kill the other two couples.”

“That doesn’t sound very godly.”

“Well, God killed more people in the Old Testament than anyone else did. Thus, maybe, I’ll be acting as an agent of God by hanging the four of them.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Listen up, Honey, if you don’t get on your knees and repent, we will never have our own place. Think about that, okay?”

I mumbled something as she left the bedroom, but eventually I bowed down by the bed, praying until peace filled my heart about our situation.

“Lord, I give up. If You want us to live with other people, I will love them and be their servant to the best of my ability.”

My attitude changed right away. Dirty dishes left in the sink − no problem. I washed them. Food left on the counter − no problem. I put it away. Messy living room − no problem. I vacuumed and straightened everything up. Need groceries − no problem. I went out and bought them. Wrong TV channel − no problem. I changed channels.

This revelation dawned on me that day: if I am unhappy about something, I needed to shut up, and fix the problem. This was the only way to live in community with other believers without creating a bunch of laws, which all would end up hating and rebelling against.

This attitude especially helped us in our first three years of marriage because Carol and I lived with other people a little more than two thirds of the time.

Plus, Joseph and Mary would have told their family about Jesus’ birth, the shepherds, the star, the three wisemen, the prophetic words by Simeon and Anna, Joseph’s visions and more.

Yet, with all of this, Jesus’ family did not honor Him during His earthly ministry.

My prayer today:

Lord, help us to love and honor our families on their good days, on their bad days, on the days when we haven’t a clue about why they’re doing something or whatever because You love families and consider Your children a heavenly family for You. (Based on Ephesians 3:15)

The main government leader at the time was Emperor Nero, head of the Roman Empire.

What happened next?

A great fire broke out in Rome in 64 AD, destroying great portions of the city. Nero laid much of the blame on Christians and hunted them down. Horrific tortures were inflicted on Christians with thousands of believers being martyred. Paul, himself, was beheaded by Nero in 67 AD.

But guess what?

Christianity grew and became stronger during these four years of heavy persecution, which ended in 68 AD, at Nero’s death.

Just think for a moment: Paul and the believers prayed, interceded and gave thanks for Nero during this cruel time period, hoping for peace. Yet, it took four years for their prayers to produce peace in the Roman Empire. Four years until their breakthrough!

This should give California believers hope!

The newly installed California government is not a Christian-friendly one nor can we expect Bible-based laws to be enacted in the days ahead. But let’s follow Paul’s exhortation by giving thanks, intercessions, supplications and prayers for the following government leaders, believing that God will have His way in California:

Governor Gavin Newsom.

Lt. Governor Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis

Attorney General Xavier Becerra

President Pro Tempore of California Senate Toni Atkins

Majority Leader of California Senate Robert Hertzberg

Minority Leader of California Senate Patricia Bates

Speaker of California Assembly Anthony Rendon

Speaker Pro Tempore of California Assembly Kevin Mullins

Majority Leader of California Assembly Ian Calderon

Republican Leader of California Assembly Marie Waldron

US Senator Kamala Harris

US Senator Dianne Feinstein

Speaker of US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi

US House Representative Maxine Walters

My prayer today:

Lord, raise up a hundred thousand believers who will make a commitment to pray according to 1 Timothy 2:1-2 for our government leaders on a regular basis, believing You will have Your way in our state.

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for California and the West Coast.

At Thanksgiving, we love to see those advertisements with a happy family sitting around a big table enjoying their turkey feast and fellowshipping with each other. This is a part of our American tradition where families love to get together, especially during the holidays.

But what about dysfunctional families?

A friend recalls his childhood family experiences with horror. His mom adored his older brother, but from his earliest years onward, he can only remember his mom’s contempt for him. She would punish him for the smallest infractions by spanking him always hard enough to make him cry. Then she would continue spanking him until he would quit crying. A no-win situation for a four or five year old child.

“You will never amount to anything in your life!” his mom proclaimed to him over and over again.

And guess what?

His brother grew up to be a wealthy businessman, but my friend was always in trouble. First, in elementary school and then later on as a juvenile delinquent. At 18 years of age, my friend forged a check for ten dollars. The judge sentenced him to ten years in prison for his crime.

His mom never once wrote him a letter or visited him while he was in prison.

When I first met my friend, he was thirty-five years old and had spent half his life in prison. He had become a Christian, had joined a church once, had been on fire for the Lord, but the church had treated him poorly. So, as you can imagine, my friend had trust issues.

I prayed over him once and had a quick vision. In it, I saw him sitting on a cot in a prison cell. He was weeping buckets of tears as he faced a brick wall. The vision panned outward, revealing that the prison door was wide open. All he had to do was stand up, turn around and walk out the door to his freedom.

To this day, my friend is still sitting in bondage to his childhood past.

This is an extreme example, but there are thousands of others that are much, much worse.

My prayer today:

Lord, send Your Spirit to bring Good News to families and their members, to proclaim liberty to any captives, to open blind eyes and free those who might be suffering from ill treatment by their families. (Based on Luke 4:18)

The ten terrorists trained for months, learning how to use high-tech rifles, bombs and grenades, gobbling steroids to buff up their bodies, studying maps of Mumbai and the buildings they would attack and dedicating themselves to kill until their dying breaths. Their goal was to slaughter 5,000 people.

Azam Amir Kasav was found guilty and executed in 2012.

Wake up California!

Do we possibly think this type of attack can’t happen in California? Have politicians so hoodwinked us with their repeated spewings about the dangers of global warming claptrap that we actually trust these political shysters with our families’ lives? Are there terrorists training right now to attack San Diego or Los Angeles or San Francisco or other cities in our state? What can we do?

My prayer today:

Lord, blow a trumpet in California, sound an alarm, call the church to turn to You with all of our hearts, with fasting, weeping and mourning, to rend our hearts before You in hopes that You will show us mercy, even though we deserve Your judgment. (Based on Joel 2)

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for California and the West Coast.